1. Technical Field of the Disclosure
This embodiment relates in general to soda can crushers. More specifically, the preferred embodiment relates to a can crushing apparatus having a safety mechanism to prevent hand injuries caused by the accidental positioning of hands on the crusher.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of can crushers have been developed in the art. Cans made of aluminum, steel and metal alloys can be easily crushed using the can crushers. The can crushers flatten cans filled with soda, beverages and other soft drinks Crushed cans are more convenient to transport for can recycling purposes and require only less space for storage. Different types of can crushers are available in the market. These include single can crusher, multi can crusher and garbage can crusher. Can crushers are very useful in public places like schools, colleges, hotels, malls, theatres and parks where sodas and other can filled beverages are sold on abundance. The can crushers help us to protect environment and natural resources by providing a convenient method for can recycling.
Various methods exist in order to optimize the process of can crushing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,167 issued to Fleming on Aug. 24, 1999 provides a portable can compactor having a housing, a chamber designed to accept aluminum beverage cans for compacting. A ram is reciprocally driven in the chamber to compact cans against a front wall or anvil of the chamber. The ram front surface is sloped relative to the anvil to reduce the amount of force needed to compact a can. However, this can compactor is not wall mountable. Further, this device does not provide any safety mechanism to prevent a hand injury that occurs when a user or a child accidentally places his hand on any sharp edged component of the can compactor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,677 issued to Wittman on Aug. 13, 1991 describes a can crusher for compacting cans, such as aluminum soft drink cans, into a substantially flat configuration for storage, recycling or disposal. The can crusher includes a base with opposing flanges and a handle that rotates about the flanges. The handle includes an extending crimping member that compresses the center of the can downwardly, and also forces the ends of the can inwardly. However, this can crusher utilizes a complex mode of operation for crushing the cans.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,536 issued to Dodd on Feb. 18, 1986 describes an electrically actuated can crusher having a housing, a motor mounted within the housing and a shaft rotatable by the motor and downwardly driven thereby having a crush plate thereon. The housing also includes a bottom crush plate for allowing a can to be placed in the housing between the crush plates. But, this can crusher has a complex construction and is very expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,834 issued to Lowe on Jul. 26, 1983 provides a can crusher having a continuous incremental crushing action for reducing cans or similar containers to a compact size. The crusher consists of a housing having a cylindrical configuration with a cylindrical cavity for the horizontal attachment to a wall. Even so, the can crusher is designed to work manually and a user has to exert force for crushing the can.
Hence, it can be seen, that there is a need for a soda can crusher that would be simple in construction, reliable and easy to use. This needed device would not require a user to exert force for crushing a can. Further, such a needed device would utilize a simple mode of operation for crushing the can and would require less space for storage. Moreover, such a needed device would be inexpensive and wall mountable. Such a needed device would provide a safety mechanism to prevent hand injuries caused by the accidental positioning of hands on the crusher.